Ozon's Adygeysk logistics centre caught fire after a drone attack: go…

President Vladimir Putin held a Kremlin ceremony on 4 November, National Unity Day, awarding the 2026 presidential prize for contributions to strengthening national unity along with state decorations. The presidential prize went to Ivan Yesin, managing director of the Humanitarian Projects Foundation. The Order of Honour was awarded to Vadim Krasnoselsky, president of Transnistria. Orders of Friendship went to Russian-Armenian University vice-rector Parkev Avetisyan, head of an Italian charity Ennio Bordato and others; Pushkin medals went to cultural figures abroad, among others.

President Vladimir Putin approved a list of instructions drawn up after an August meeting with teachers, implementing a 20 July 2026 decree on additional support for teachers that guarantees mentoring for at least the first year of work. The ministries of science and education must, by 1 September 2027, propose how university staff could accompany new teachers during their first year, add mentoring skills to teacher-training curricula, and set up resource centres and mobile technology parks for teachers. Deputy minister Olga Koludarova said in late October that the share of teachers under 35 should rise from the current 22.5% to 40% by 2030.

The Supreme Court of Russia ruled that issuing a microloan on the basis of a passport photograph and an SMS code sent to someone else's phone number is unlawful. In the case, Novosibirsk resident Zaur Mamedov was ordered to pay 74 thousand rubles to a collection agency, and the first-instance and appeal courts sided with the collector; the Supreme Court overturned those rulings and sent the case back for retrial. It said that a contract can be recognised as concluded only if the borrower himself expressed the intent to enter into it and received the money, and that the lender must verify that the signatory is the owner of the personal data. The lower courts did not establish how the lender identified the applicant.

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Channel One that the agenda of the Russia-China-US summit in Shenzhen is currently being coordinated; asked about a possible agenda for the talks, he said it was being agreed, and clarified that the coordination involves both Beijing and Washington. The APEC summit will be held in Shenzhen, China, on 18-19 November.

Aleksandar Vulin, chairman of the supervisory board of state gas company Srbijagas and a former Serbian deputy prime minister, said he had arrived in Moscow for talks on gas supplies and continued cooperation, and would ask for the supply contract to be extended. The current three-month contract between Gazprom and Srbijagas expires on 31 December; this year Russia is to supply Serbia with up to 2.6 billion cubic metres of gas, about 90% of the country's needs.

Russia and China are ready to implement a major transport and logistics project on the cross-border section of the Zabaikalsk-Manzhouli railway, with the law fixing both sides' obligations published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Details were agreed during May talks in Beijing, including joint financing and the use of 1435 mm track gauge for direct coupling. According to expert Pavel Ivankin, a second track could raise the crossing's capacity by more than 75%. Under the Transport Ministry's plans, annual freight volumes will grow by more than 11 million tonnes by 2030, bringing total capacity to 39 million tonnes a year at about 49 train pairs per day.

The Russian government raised import duties on spirits from unfriendly countries to 35%, but not less than 5 euros per litre, up from 20% and not less than 3 euros per litre. The measure covers spirit tinctures, whisky, rum, gin, liqueurs, undenatured ethyl alcohol and other spirits. The resolution was signed on 31 October 2026 and posted on the official legal information portal; the higher duties run until 31 December 2027. According to the explanatory note to the draft 2027 federal budget, the increase will add 10 billion rubles to the budget in 2027.

Power generators will modernise 1.62 GW of thermal capacity by 2030, leaving the 2 GW quota unfilled for the second year running. According to the System Operator, eight projects were selected: six totalling 1.244 GW in the first price zone (Europe and the Urals) and two of 380 MW in the second (Siberia and the Far East), with capital investment of 123.84 billion rubles. In 2025, projects of 1.72 GW were selected from a 2 GW quota. Industry groups propose regularly updating capex ceilings, while energy consumers say the result shows no urgent need to expand quotas.

Compared with the power restrictions reported on 3 November, Sevastopol on 4 November went without electricity for a second day running: after the overnight strike on 3 November on facilities supplying Crimea, strikes were repeated the following night, the whole peninsula switched to strict power saving, and Sevastopol still has no approximate supply schedule. A Rossiyskaya Gazeta correspondent describes more than 18 hours without light or heating in her building, unstable mobile service with emergency roaming, and shops running on generators; power goes first to hospitals and water utilities, water trucks have been sent to some districts, generator fuel for a private house costs more than 4 thousand rubles a day, and residents put generators in courtyards so neighbours can charge phones.

The Ministry of Digital Development intends to require developers to provide engineering infrastructure for at least three telecom providers in new residential buildings; amendments to the Urban Planning Code and the law on communications have been put out for public discussion. Compliance will be checked when a building is commissioned, and without it no commissioning permit will be issued. The three providers must also not be affiliated with the developer, the management company or an incumbent operator. The law is expected to take effect in March 2028 and apply to buildings whose design documentation is prepared after that date; given construction timelines, residents would notice the change in 2030-2031.

Crimea head Sergei Aksyonov said that, given the difficult power situation, school holidays in Crimea have been extended to the end of the week, with classes tentatively resuming on Monday 9 November and any further changes to be announced separately. Municipal authorities will decide independently whether kindergartens open. Russia's Energy Ministry said an overnight strike on energy infrastructure cut power to consumers in Crimea and Sevastopol, repair work is under way, and socially significant facilities have been connected to backup supplies.

Belgorod region governor Alexander Shuvaev reported that a civilian minibus was attacked near the village of Rakityanskoye: a man, a woman and an eight-year-old child died of their injuries before an ambulance arrived. The governor wrote that there is no justification for killing defenceless civilians and children. Kommersant also cites its own earlier report that the Defence Ministry's bulletins from January to September mentioned the Belgorod region 631 times.

Bryansk region governor Egor Kovalchuk reported that a kamikaze drone strike on the urban-type settlement of Klimovo wounded two men with shrapnel and damaged a shop; near the village of Mogilevtsy in the Klimovsky district a drone hit a civilian car, wounding two more civilians. In the village of Sachkovichi a residential house and a car were damaged, with no casualties.

Russia's Defence Ministry said duty air defence forces intercepted and destroyed 709 Ukrainian drones overnight, including over the Moscow region. The drones were neutralised over the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Kaluga, Tula, Ryazan, Oryol, Voronezh, Saratov, Samara and Rostov regions, Krasnodar Krai, Crimea and Adygea, as well as over the Black and Azov seas.

The first serial MC-21-310 airliner (factory number 0014) returned from Zhukovsky to the Irkutsk aircraft plant airfield after completing scheduled work, flown by a mixed crew led by senior test pilot Sergei Mikhailuk. The aircraft will be fitted with a cabin and, if necessary, modified following certification tests. Rostec says the fully import-substituted jet is more comfortable than foreign counterparts: its 4.06 m fuselage diameter is the widest in its class, cabin pressure in flight equals an altitude of 1800 metres versus 2200-2300 metres for foreign competitors, capacity is 163 to 211 passengers, and composite materials account for more than 30%.

The Kalashnikov concern presented a universal model of a layered anti-drone protection system for important facilities, with turrets and interceptor drones; the presentation took place on International Military Journalist Day, the holding's press service reported. Air targets were engaged by the automated Kalitka-KA turret and the Zveroboy system with Kraken anti-aircraft FPV drones. Journalists were also shown multi-bullet 5.45x39 mm cartridges and machine guns on tactical mounts.

Tinto Brass, the Italian film director known for erotic cinema, died in Rome in his 94th year, Kommersant reported. Of the thirty-three films he made, the article names Caligula, Salon Kitty and The Key. He studied law but soon moved into film, and worked as an assistant to Roberto Rossellini.

Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the first patients at Rostec's Centre for Innovation in Traumatology and Orthopaedics have begun using non-removable exoprostheses for permanent wear: development is complete, a metal structure is implanted and the exoprosthesis can then be fixed to it, and a new technology is now taking shape. He spoke after visiting the centre's branch in Buryatia, noting the need to provide prostheses for veterans of the special military operation and that the centre offers surgical, trauma and psychotherapeutic care.

World Archery Europe's executive council decided to lift restrictions on Russian athletes, teams and officials taking part in its events from 1 January 2027, according to a statement on the organisation's website. The decision does not override applicable laws, host-country requirements, visa restrictions or government orders, and the federation will continue to assess the situation in European host countries. In August the executive board of World Archery lifted its restrictions, allowing Russians to compete under the national flag and anthem at world championships and World Cup stages. The IOC Executive Board temporarily restored the Russian Olympic Committee's status on 7 July.

An asteroid with the provisional designation A11J0Lc will pass near the Moon that evening; astronomers say there is no collision risk, although the minimum distance to the Moon will be almost 39 thousand kilometres. The near-Earth asteroid is estimated at 5-13 metres, was discovered on 11 January 2011 and belongs to the Apollo group. Calculations show no significant impact risk over the next hundred years. More than 130 such approaches inside the Moon's orbit were recorded in 2025.

Ozon's press service reported that its logistics centre in Adygeysk was struck by drones and caught fire: all staff were evacuated, preliminary reports indicate no injuries, and emergency services are on site. The platform said goods held there would be hidden from the storefront and unavailable to order, some orders cancelled and others fulfilled from other facilities; the centre is not accepting seller deliveries and in-transit stock has been redirected to other logistics centres. The report does not say which fulfilment models are affected or when the centre will resume operations.

Interfax, citing Latvia's LETA news agency and the country's State Revenue Service (VID), reported that Russian grain transit via Latvia in January–October reached 1.115 million tonnes, 3.1 times the 357,645 tonnes recorded a year earlier. October accounted for 425,163 tonnes and September for 346,952 tonnes. The service said neither EU nor Latvian law currently bans grain transit. The report also notes that from 13 October LatRailNet raised rail infrastructure charges for Russian grain transit by an average of 25%. The article does not cover cross-border e-commerce goods or Chinese sellers.

Compared with the draft plan reported on 23 October, what is new is that the decree has been signed and published, together with the full rates and expiry date: signed on 31 October and posted on the official legal information portal, it raises duties on spirits from unfriendly countries to 35% with a floor of EUR 5 per litre, up from 20% with a floor of EUR 3 per litre. It covers whisky, rum, gin, vodka, liqueurs, undenatured ethyl alcohol and other spirits, and runs until 31 December 2027. According to the explanatory note to the draft federal budget for 2027 and the 2028–2029 planning period, the measure would add 10 billion roubles to the budget in 2027. The report concerns imported spirits and does not mention cross-border e-commerce goods or Chinese sellers.

Ozon's press service told RIA Novosti that in January–September users ordered 1.8 billion Russian-made items on the platform, 70% more than in the same period of 2025, averaging over 6 million items a day; 62 million buyers ordered Russian-made goods over the nine months. The platform said the most in-demand goods are produced in Moscow and the Moscow region, St Petersburg, Krasnodar Krai and Sverdlovsk Oblast. It also noted that the 'Made in Russia' project, launched in 2022 with regional authorities, now covers 58 regions and any local brand can list goods there free of charge. The article gives no data on imported goods or Chinese sellers.

The Pollock Catchers Association told RIA Novosti that by 3 November Russian fishermen had landed over 2 million tonnes of pollock, bringing the species to 50% of the national catch. The association says the catch has stayed above 2 million tonnes for a second consecutive year, 3.1% (60,000 tonnes) above 2025 and 9.2% (170,000 tonnes) above 2024. Its head expects the 2026 total to hold at 2.2 million tonnes, while noting that fisheries science forecasts some decline towards average levels in coming years because of falling spawning biomass in the main fishing areas. The article does not mention exports, the Chinese market or prices.

Compared with the 4 November rate set already reported on 3 November, what is new is that the coverage day was a public holiday and the central bank published no new set: a query for 5 November returns the same set dated 4 November — 81.6699 roubles per US dollar, 91.6010 per euro and 12.1816 per Chinese yuan, all with a nominal unit of 1. The interface returns no publication time and gives no reason.

The head of a small- and medium-business association told Kommersant's radio arm that the president's traditional meeting with major entrepreneurs takes place in the second half of December and, he expects, will also cover payment arrears. In the latest RSPP survey, inter-company debts ranked among the three most acute business problems. According to the insolvency registry, more than 1,500 corporate insolvency cases were opened in Russia in Q3 2026, a third more than in April–June, with the tax service initiating nearly one case in four. A first deputy minister of economic development said July's pre-court restructuring amendments let troubled companies negotiate deferrals or revised repayment schedules with creditors, and the authorities expect this to reduce bankruptcies. The article does not cover cross-border e-commerce sellers or Chinese suppliers.

Interfax, citing Gazprom, reported that daily gas deliveries to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline hit a new all-time high on 3 November, following a previous record on 1 November. Deliveries run under a long-term sale-and-purchase contract between Gazprom and CNPC. After the pipeline reached an annual export capacity of 38 billion cubic metres, capacity is being expanded with new looping lines and new production capacity at the Yakutsk and Irkutsk extraction centres; a year ago the two sides agreed to phase deliveries up to 44 billion cubic metres a year, with the additional volumes flowing from December 2025. A separate Vedomosti report notes that the company did not disclose the absolute daily figure. Neither article covers cross-border e-commerce or goods settlement.

Kommersant, citing Interior Ministry materials, reported that economic-crime losses in Russia in the first nine months of 2026 amounted to 457.1 billion roubles, described as a record in recent years. The annualised number of detected economic crimes rose 7.3% to 95,200, of which 71.1% were serious or especially serious. Total losses from all crimes over the nine months came to 656.4 billion roubles, with 92.5% arising from cases detected in cities and urban-type settlements. The article does not mention e-commerce platforms, online counterfeits or Chinese sellers.

The 4 November National Unity Day holiday split the working week in two. Business owners interviewed by Kommersant differed: the head of one group said that at the peak order season weekly productivity would be noticeably lower — 'not 20%, more like 25%'; the founder of a coffee chain said the holiday would merely redistribute customers between locations without a notable rise in total revenue; a co-founder of a restaurant holding expected footfall 'up 30% versus weekdays'. The article adds that customer traffic on weekends and holidays rises by up to about 1.5 times on average versus weekdays, depending heavily on sector, location and format, and that average spend and time on site also typically increase. All interviewees run offline service businesses; the article does not cover e-commerce platforms or cross-border sellers.